The Ford Foundation and The Voter Education Project
Correspondence from Martin Luther King to Paul Anthony about an endorsement of the Voter Education Project from Martin Luther King Jr. to Vernon Jordan encouraging him to take the job of director, and suggesting a research project for the VEP to undertake.
The Voter Education Project began in 1962 as a branch of the Southern Regional Council. Initially the organization granted funds to civil rights organizers in order to support registration drives and voting-related research or educational programs. The project started as a temporary installment directed by Wiley A.Branton before it became a permanent fixture in 1964.
As the second executive director of the VEP, Vernon Jordan expanded the program to include citizenship training, voter education, and leadership training in the southern United States, while continuing to provide funds to non-partisan voting leagues and civil rights groups. The VEP gave grants to local chapters of many national groups such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality, and the League of Women Voters.
Vernon Jordan, the second director of the VEP, photographed behind a desk.
John Lewis, who managed the VEP after Vernon Jordan resigned to become the president of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), photographed speaking to a crowd of students.
A Voter Education Project newsletter describing the change in leadership from Vernon Jordan to John Lewis.
The Civil Rights Movement was built on a combination of mutual aid and support from large foundations. Foundations like the Rockefeller Family Fund and the Ford Family Foundation were major funding sources for civil rights organizations large and small. Institutions that give out money for philanthropic efforts often receive many tax breaks. The Tax Reform Act of 1969 was utilized by some senators to criticize the nature of such granting institutions. For family funds like the Rockefeller and Ford’s it was argued that the tax regulations allowed large amounts of generational wealth to remain untaxed as long as a portion of the fund was being used for philanthropic efforts. Moreover, the amount of money in comparison to the wealth held by the families was disproportionate.
The Tax Reform Act wasn't the only monumental change for the VEP in 1969. As the Tax Reform Act made its way through Capitol Hill, the VEP was changing guard. Vernon Jordan, was the favorite to become the new president of the United Negro College Fund. He passed the torch to John Lewis. With the former SNCC organizer at the helm the VEP became an independent organization and functioned as a research center and became known as an authoritative source for statistics on southern elections and voter registration. Lewis also forged the VEP into an activist organization, leaning into the new changes as the relationship between nonprofits and foundations continued to shift.